


Parallel

by dirkapitated



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Artist!John, Homestuck - Freeform, I promise, Just Bear With Me, M/M, dave strider - Freeform, john egbert - Freeform, there will be sex i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 08:10:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirkapitated/pseuds/dirkapitated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is an artist who's going to college in his home state when he meets Dave in a near-death situation on a rooftop.</p>
<p>This is my first Johndave fanfiction! it's played out like a classic, and yes there will be sex i promise!! </p>
<p>if you want to ask me about it, my tumblr is turntechghead u v u</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parallel

It was a damp, weary night in the secluded state of Washington, and you were embracing every moment of it, capturing it with your sketchbook in hand, the raw beauty of it all. You never found beauty in what society considered as such, so you set out at night, leaving the quiet giggles and whispers about the 'art boy' behind. You'd graduated, there was no reason to fear them anymore. Of course, until you started college.  
Your name was John Egbert. You were nineteen years old, and you just graduated from a dingy high school in the suburbs. Now you left those places behind to wander the city, capturing it with nothing but a pen and pencil. Simple tools of judgement that can dictate beauty and peace, but also fear and emptiness.  
In the city in question, you were seated on a park bench. Every once in a while people walked past, and you could take a moment to sketch their profile, a fleeting image. Often people like this appeared in your dreams. Just quick, empty memories that swam in your head like confused fish. You had never felt so alive than when you are here, lost in your sketchbook.  
Drawing was your passion. It had always been so, since the moment you started as a youngster and grew up around countless store-bought and generally shitty art supplies, drawing your own life with the skill of a steady, calloused hand. You loved the rawness the world exhibited to your blue eyes, and you could never seem to match it in a sketchbook as well as maybe a photo, or simply a memory, could.  
You shook your head, lost in your thoughts. It was never a good time to do that. You had never been an exactly serious person, and these private thoughts were almost an embarrassment to you, because you were John Egbert and you knew your place in your group of friends as a prankster and kind of a douchebag.  
After a while you decided to get up and head your way back to your apartment, in which you had just recently moved into. It was a quaint little place with an excellent view of the city, and you loved it. After all, the starting payment did cost half a year's wages.  
On your way home, you watched the cars slowly roll by, and the buildings silhouette against the sky as it got darker. When your gaze finally returned to the sidewalk, you noticed something out of the corner of your eye. If you hadn't had years of practice honing your artist's eye, you may not have noticed it. But there it was. A ladder. A simple, rusty fire escape ladder that led to the top of an old building, which looked like an abandoned theatre. You stopped. staring at the ladder before sketching it quickly. Then you put your sketchbook in your backpack, carefully placing your drawing utensils in a side pocket, before you began to climb.  
It was a long climb, and you were short of breath as you got to the top, but damn, the view was beautiful. Up here, everything below was dwarfed. It was truly amazing to see everything on such a large scale, and you reveled in it, just watching. No drawing, no hand on paper, no copying. Nothing could copy the true nature of this beauty that was so man-made and fake but yet it still seemed so _real_ by petty human standards. You sat down, your legs dangling off the edge of the building, as you watched the sun set across the high, jagged skyline, imperfected by a small building elevated high above most of the others. Everything seemed so amplified in this moment. You liked being along like this. It made you feel free, and more real to yourself.  
You sigh, leaning forward slightly, your back arching as you try to grasp a lasting image of the skyline in your head once more, so you might be able to sketch it, before getting up to walk over to the ladder and-  
"Fuck!" You cursed loudly, on impulse, and you were suddenly on the ground, the wind knocked out of you, and something sharp pointed at and digging into the skin of your throat. You turned your head, slowly and carefully, fighting to get your breath back so you can greet your assailant and suddenly you are greeted with the most amazing sight your eyes have had the pleasure of indulging in.  
A boy stands above you, sunglasses swept up onto his forehead, and gazing into yours, swimming with fire and anger, are these extremely red eyes that seemed to pierce your soul with some painful clarity that made your heart ache. You could feel your blood pumping against the tip of his sword, which after a moment you recognized to be a katana. After a moment, your mind cleared and you realized what danger you were in.  
"Fuck, um, take my money, whatever, just don't kill me, jesus!" You struggled under the other boy, who just growled and held one of your wrists down, sending a burning sensation that reverberated into your shoulder.  
"Who the fuck are you?" he finally spoke. He had just a slight texan lilt to his vocals, which did not explain why he was in washington or while his skin and hair alike were so pale.  
"U-um-- John. John Egbert." You choked out.

 

_John Egbert._ This sparked something in your mind. A distantly close sister of his had once said something about the boy, albeit vaguely. This was not your name, however. Your name was Dave Strider, and someone was intruding on what at this time was your place. You hadn't had a good strife in a long time, since Bro had disappeared, and your nerves were extremely tense, not knowing when the next battle would come.  
"Why the hell are you up here?" You eased the sword on his throat a bit, not wanting to draw blood from this wide-eyed boy. In fact, he was actually rather cute, and it would kind of suck if you accidentally killed a friend of your sister's.  
"D-drawing! I was drawing." The boy responded, scrambling for his bag.  
You thought it over a moment, and then stepped away from him, standing up straight and swinging your sword.  
"Be careful what part of town you're in, bro." You cleared your throat, flipping your shades back on your face. It was a silent exchange; dorky kid revealed to be an artist who likes to sit on top of buildings, coolkid has red demon eyes. A fair exchange.  
John blinked, swallowing. "Um, okay." He looked down. "Don't tell anyone I was up here?" That was the exchange, you thought. john had just subconsciously verbalized it.  
"As long as you don't tell anyone about my eyes."  
John nodded, confusion swimming in his own deep blues as he stood up. "Can I get the name of the kid who tried to kill me?" He laughed nervously, and you took note of the two buck teeth just barely visible over his lower lip. You growled at his statement, however. You were no kid.  
"Dave Strider."

"Dave... Strider?" You blinked as the boy with the shades suddenly disappeared. Did he just... flashstep? Wide-eyed, you tilted your head, looking around. Where was he?  
Suddenly you saw a figure in the distance, running across a building, all the way across the street. How did he get over there?  
You pondered this, turning it over in your head as he climbed the long ladder that led up to that lone, small, suspended building, framed by stars.  
You decided it was time to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it for the first chapter! Next chapter is going to be about the next day, in which dave asks rose question and they end up at a club for the night (remember they are underage for drinking, so brace yourselves for them getting caught, oh no)
> 
> I hope you guys like it so far!


End file.
